Blood Inheritance
by cmartist
Summary: Blood is life. It is that which flows through all of us. It defines us. And for some, it is their fate. But does fate equal destiny? And can those who wish to defy fate really escape it? Temporarily on hold.


**Blood Inheritance**

Disclaimer: Teen Titans and Legacy of Cain belong to their own respective creators.

Hello again. I wasn't happy with how this chapter ended so I've updated it slightly.

-----

**Dark Gift**

"I mind," I tell the super villain. 'Doctor Light', I muse. Among most of the villains we usually face, he's proved to be not only powerful but intelligent as well. Refreshing, when I think about it. But seeing him easily dispose of my team mates, I know that he's also quite deadly. I chant the words which draws forth my dark power, intent on causing him some major pain.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinth..!" My words are interrupted as he blasts me with a beam of light, knocking me back several feet. That's going to leave a bruise, I groan as I struggle to get back on my feet.

"A bit of advice," sneers Doctor Light. "Find shorter magic words."

I feel a bit of anger well up as I draw forth more power. True, I do chant most of the time but he doesn't know that I still have use of my powers without the chanting. Lucky he also doesn't know that I can't call forth my full power without the chant. A motor bike behind me is wrapped in my darkness as I hurl it towards him. It brings a slight smile to my face as I notice the shock in his eyes as the bike hurtles towards him. My little 'joy' is short lived as his shock turns to a sneer. Raising his hand, he simply shoots the bike with those infernal light beams of his. It blows up several feet in front of him, leaving him unharmed and me at his mercy. I look around frantically for something else to throw at him but he shoots me first, again knocking me several feet into the air.

As I land, I feel several more bones get bruised and possibly broken as I hit the concrete face first. I shakily rise to my knees and look around; Cyborg and Starfire are still struggling with their prisons. Cyborg's strength proves no match for being encased in a solid block of steel and Starfire's Tamaranian powers seem hard pressed to penetrate the force field she currently is trapped in. Beastboy proves to be in no better shape. 'The idiot', I frown. He continues to run around in circles, still blinded by that last flash bomb. Robin is still probably trying to find his way back after being knocked away a few blocks.

For the first time in ages, I feel the emotions I try so desperately to hold back threaten to burst forth. I am the only one left and I can't use my powers fast enough against him. I feel the anger slowly rise up as I want, no desire to crush this insect for daring to hurt me and my friends. I realize that my control was weakening. I'm not in any condition to fight this way. I'm too much of a danger to both myself and my team mates. I try to ask him to stay away but for some reason it comes out more like a threat than a request.

"Don't come any closer," I hear myself tell Doctor Light. He chooses to ignore my warning and walks closer towards me. I chant silently to myself, trying desperately to quell what I fear the most. I feel him walking closer and closer, I no longer fear for myself but for him. He has no idea what he is getting into.

"What's the matter, afraid of the light?" he taunts.

Those are the last words I remember hearing as everything goes red. Power flows through my veins like never before. I feel...elated. My cloak stretches out as I shoot out dark tendrils at Doctor Light. He looks so small now, the fool. He has no idea who he is dealing with. My tendrils snatch him from where he stands as he screams in fear. Yes, scream I mentally shout at him. Let me feel your fear.

"No! No! My suit! What are you...!?" screams the would-be super-villain. He turns towards Raven and sees her eyes glowing a devilish red, fangs now present in her evil smile. He begins to tremble as his life flashes before his eyes. Babbling incoherent words, he claws at the ground trying to get free. "You win! I surrender!" he begs.

"What's the matter," I ask him, my voice not entirely my own. "Afraid of the dark?" Even I see the delicious irony of it all. Here is the 'light' about to be consumed by the dark. And all this time I thought that light banished darkness. No matter. He will not live long enough to realize it. I pull him closer towards me as he claws in vain, trying to free himself from my power. As he approaches me, I feel a strange sensation wash over me. A yearning...no...a hunger. I raise him so that his back is towards me; my power binds him so that he cannot move. I look at his neck. While covered in what is now his useless technology, I know that beneath the techno armor pulses his very essence. Tracing a finger over where his jugular should be, I feel a wave of fear wash over him. I can practically taste it in the air. His eyes widen in pure panic as I slowly tilt his head to one side and slowly lower myself closer to his neck. Just as I part my lips in anticipation, I engulf his body completely in my darkness. His screams can no longer be heard as I begin to show him the true meaning of fear.

"Raven! Stop!" yells Robin as he rushes me.

All of a sudden, I realize where I am. My power recedes as waves of guilt and shame wash over me. My cloak also shrinks back to its original size, revealing a shiverring and battered Doctor Light, his eyes still wide in fear and shock.

"So....d..dark." he mumbles incoherently. "Make it stop...make it stop!" he pleads.

I simply look on in morbid fascination at the state of the doctor. What would have happened if I didn't respond to Robin's voice? I try not to think about it but Beast Boy's question breaks my silent musings.

"Whoa! Dude. Raven, what did you do?" he asks innocently.

_'I don't need this,'_ I grouse. I turn and glare hotly at him, my eyes glowing with the same blood-red energy earlier. He jumps back in shock as I walk off into the shadows. I need to think and meditate. I...I'm not sure what I might do if I tried to talk to them in my current state.

Starfire watches her best girl friend disappear into the darkness. She moves to follow but a hand on her shoulder stops her from taking a further step. She looks at Robin who simply shakes his head.

"She needs to be alone. We should respect that."

-----

I look around in the darkness and sense that my team mates are no where near me. Collapsing to my knees, my body begins to shake as I feel the tears flow freely. I try to calm myself but it's no use. My emotions run rampant as objects around me explode one by one. The fact that I lost control was painful enough. If Robin hadn't stopped me when he did, I may have done something I would have regretted for the rest of my life. I was especially thankful that some part of me still recognized Robin as a friend. I could never forgive myself if my team mates suffered from this curse of mine.

"HAVEN'T YOU RUINED MY LIFE ENOUGH?!" I scream to the heavens. My 'father', if he even deserves to be called that, was the source of all my pain...all my agony. It was painful enough having to learn to control my emotions because of the link they would give him into this world. But now, this...this...thing was too much to bear.

Wrapping my cloak around me like a security blanket, I cry. I haven't cried since I learned to control my emotions but I no longer care. No one would care if they ever found out what I had become. I look at my hands and the pale skin that covers them. I never really paid much attention to my complexion before but now it seems paler than before. I knew that being a half-demon would prove a big challenge. All my teachers back on Azarath drilled into me the lessons which would help keep my emotions in check. Nothing they taught me would have prepared me for this.

I recall vividly my actions against Doctor Light. I remember the 'taste' of his fear, the rapid beating of his heart as I drew him closer, and my own anticipation of what was to come. Deny it as I might, I knew I enjoyed what I did to him. But what scared me the most was why I enjoyed it.

_I was hungry._

We had already had dinner by the time Doctor Light decided to steal the gold so technically I was already full. But when I lost control, I could feel a sudden hunger gnawing at me. It wasn't like any hunger I had ever felt before. The scary part was that...I was staring at the doctor's neck. I wanted to bite him. "Oh God, I'm becoming a vampire," I sob. It was as if I knew that biting him would ease the hunger I felt. Even now, I could feel the hunger although not as powerful as it was a few moments ago.

Everyone in my circle of teachers believed that a half-demon like myself would manifest some dark traits later on in life. I always thought my powers were enough of a curse and that they were the only things I would have to deal with. Vampirism never entered my mind as something I would 'inherit' from my 'father'.

I look towards the sky for any sign from...anything. An answer to why I was so cursed in life. Ironically, the sky begins to darken as thunder claps sound in the distance. Even in my depressed state I could see the delicious irony of it all. Some beliefs say that when someone dies and it rains, it's because heaven cries. Perhaps I am already dead. In any case, the weather now matches my mood perfectly as it begins to pour heavily. I simply sit there, letting the rain wash over my body trying to cleanse myself of this 'filth' that I've become.

_'But I know I will never be clean again.'_ I murmur to myself.

I hear some people running in the distance. Probably trying to get out of the rain. I will myself back to my emotionless shell. It wouldn't do for me to keep blowing things up when there are witnesses. Taking a deep breath, I call forth my powers and lift myself into the air. Wrapping myself in my cloak, I fly off back to Titans Tower to try and meditate. Useless as it may be to my Vampirism, it's the only thing I have left. I can't tell my team mates about it. They'd probably thing I was some sort of monster.

"If they didn't already think I was a monster, after today's events." I laugh bitterly.

As I fly back to the tower, a small part of me wonders about this strange storm. No signs of any heavy weather were predicted at all for the next few days. And it was the middle of spring.

-----

Far away from the city, an ancient cave lay long buried under thick vegetation and rubble. Tonight however, things were different. A small tremor shook the mountain as a bright light burst forth from the mouth of the cave. As the tremors die down and the light fade away, a tall figure steps out of the darkness. He raises his head to the sky, rain soaking the red cloak wrapped around his shoulders.

'_Where have I been sent now?'_ he thinks. He raises his right arm to eye level, a phantom blade materializing eerily in his hand. The energy from the blade coils almost lovingly around his arm as it glows with power.

"I should have expected this trechery." says the figure out loud. The stronghold that he had come from, if ever it did exist in this place no longer stood. Not even remnants of the chronoplast(1) remained where he appeared. "No matter. You profaned the Sarafan by turning us into your undead generals. I will find you Kain, and eradicate every last one of your kind," he whispers bitterly. The figure scans the horizon and sees the many lights of the city in the distance.

'_Many things appear to have changed in this era,'_ he thinks to himself. _'I no longer see any indication of the Nosgoth I left behind. And if the ruins here are any indication, I may never see it again. But if Kain and his ilk are here, I will be both their redeemer and destroyer.'_ With this, he wraps his cloak tightly around himself and starts to walk in the general direction of the city.

-----

Raven lands on the roof of Titan's Tower, her wet leotard and cloak clinging to her body like a second skin. Shivering slightly, she makes her way to her room hoping none of the other Titans see her current state. Leaving a wet trail as she floats across the corridor, she almost makes it to her room when a voice startles her.

"Raven, are you also thirsty," mumbles a half-awake Starfire.

"No, you are dreaming. I'm not really here, and you're sleep walking. Go get your water and go to sleep." replies Raven, her voice controlled and cool.

"Oh, very well...yawn...good night, dream version of Raven." With that, Starfire flies off to the kitchen for her glass of water, leaving a very surprised and somewhat relieved Raven alone in the hallway.

'_I can't believe that even worked,'_ she sighs in relief. Entering her room, she strips off her wet costume and considers taking a shower but feeling exhausted from her earlier outburst, decides to simply put on one of her dark night gowns and sleep first.

'_Maybe I should talk to my other selves tomorrow,'_ she whispers to herself as she falls into a restless sleep.

-----

"_Hi Raven, doing anything?" asks Beastboy. Today was a fairly slow day for the Titans. No villains to capture, no threat to defeat, just a regular boring day. Deciding there was nothing else to do, Raven had retreated to her usual location in the lounge to meditate for the day._

"_I WAS meditating until you interrupted," snapped Raven, as she opened one eye and glared at Beastboy._

"_Errr...yeah...sorry. But I'm soooo bored! I've turned into every animal I can think of twice already." he moaned. "I've also played against Cyborg with every game we had!" 'Of course he beat me at every one but she doesn't have to know that,' he thought._

"_Let me guess, he beat you at every game so now you're depressed and needed to bug me about it?"_

"_Hey! Are you reading my mind? I mean, NO!" retorted Beastboy defensively._

_Raven almost smirked at this. Beastboy was as easy to read as a children's book, even without reading his mind. Looking at him now, it was easy to see what he was feeling. Bored out of his mind. He was shuffling his feet, twiddling his thumbs, anything. She could even hear his heart beat. 'Such a sweet sound,' she thought. Then IT happened._

"_Come here, Beastboy, Let's find you something 'interesting' to do." said Raven, her voice sounding slightly seductive._

"_Errr..." Beastboy was counfused. 'Did she just sound like she was flirting with me? I mean, I know I'm the best looking one on the team but for Raven to actually flirt with me? The world must be ending!' he thought frantically._

"_Don't worry. I'm sure you'll have fun." she replies huskily as she runs a finger across his face, her eyes taking on a reddish glow. 'NO, THIS ISN'T ME!' she screams mentally. Her body decided otherwise as her hands began running themselves up her now frozen companion's chest as she began kissing his neck. _

_Beastboy was in heaven and hell. He wasn't all that blind to the fact that Raven was in her own way a very sexy girl. He wasn't blind either to the fact that her eyes were glowing a lot like the time she fought with doctor light. 'That and the fact she's NECKING with me is really freaking me out!' he thought. As he tried to push her away, he suddenly felt a sharp bite on his neck as Raven suddenly clamped down on his jugular._

_Raven was in ecstasy. Her canines had grown significantly while she toyed with her prey and easily penetrated his soft flesh. She eagerly drank the blood from the wound as she drained her partner of his life essence. Beastboy struggled in vain against her but her strength had more than doubled in her current state. As he slowly went limp, another victim presented itself as the doors behind her opened._

"_Raven, what are you...?!" Robin didn't get to finish his statement as her hand went through his chest. A look of shock frozen on his face._

"_Why...?" he whispered as his eyes closed for the last time._

'_NO! STOP IT!' she yelled to herself. Her mouth curved into an evil smile as she threw Robin's corpse to the side, licking the blood from her hand. Raven screamed in her mind as she tried in vain to regain control of her body but nothing she did seemed to work._

"_Monster..." a soft voice whispered behind her._

_Looking towards the source, she saw the one person she considered 'friend' in the group._

'_Please Starfire, it wasn't me,' she cried out, hoping her thoughts would reach her. Her body, however, replied differently._

"_What's the matter, Starfire? Did I break your little boyfriend?" she sneered. Robin's blood still dripped from her hand. _

_Starfire looked to the broken body at her side, tears falling freely from her eyes. The tears soon stopped however, as she let out a primal scream and charged at Raven, her eyes glowing with fury._

_Raven's eyes glowed blood red in return, a smirk appearing on her face as her canines glinted in the light. _

'_NOOOOOO!' she screamed as her body proceeded to beat Starfire black and blue, the alien girl's Tamaranian strength proving no match for her new found power. At the speed Raven moved, Starfire never even had the chance to use her Star bolts. Grabbing Starfire by her neck, she raised her so her feet were off the ground as she slowly choked her to death. Clawing in vain at the hand around her neck, her struggles got weaker and weaker until her body remained still forever._

_The cruel smile never left Raven's face._

-----

Raven shot up in her bed, her night gown plastered to her from her sweat. _'Just a dream, please let it be only a dream.'_ she prays. Looking around her room, she sees much of her furniture was in pieces, most likely her powers started acting up while she was dreaming. _'Please don't let them be awake,' _she shudders, afraid of what they would see in her if they knew her powers could also run amuck when she slept. Shakily getting to her feet, she rushes to the bathroom and washes her hands raw, the blood on her hands still vivid from the dream. _'I'm so thirsty. That must have taken more out of me than I thought.'_ As she enters the kitchen, she finds Starfire fast asleep on the kitchen counter, a glass of water in her hands.

'_They're all still safe,'_ she sighs in relief. After taking her own drink of water, she leaves the kitchen and the sleeping Starfire. A few minutes later, a blanket floats into the kitchen and covers the Tamaranian as she mumbles in her sleep.

"Robin..."

A small smile makes its way across Raven's face as she leaves her friend to her dreams and returns to her room, her mind slightly more at ease. As she lay down on her bed, Raven closes her eyes and prays to the gods of Azarath that her dreams remain free of the nightmare she just experienced.

Notes:

(1) Basically a time machine. In the Legacy of Kain series, it is used to send people to any time period.


End file.
